Does anyone have any tips on growing celery? I couldn't find seeds anywhere so ended up buying a 6 pack at the local garden center. I was thinking of containers......
Thanks!
Deb
Growing celery?
I found that it grows a lot easier than I expected; it does like quite a lot of water, though. I also start using mine when it's fairly small, in salads or cooked dishes, because there doesn't seem to be too much to do with a whole bunch of big heads of celery all at once (although I have heard you can freeze it, but haven't yet tried that).
I love celery and use it allot in everything for the flavor it gives. I even chop up the young leaves and use them like parsley. So I grow allot of it. Let one or two go to seed this fall and you'll never run out of celery seed again, because they really produce allot of seed! Another trick this penny pincher has used in the past is to save the center of a store bought bunch and let it sit in a shallow bit of water until it starts to put roots out. Then plant it. If anyone would like some celery seed, I'd be happy to send it to them if they mail me a self addressed and stamped envelope.
Is this supposed to be a cold crop, or can it be grown at any time?
We grow celery every year. Start ours in the greenhouse. We sell lots in late summer into fall.
Seed shouldn't be hard to find. Johnny's has it.
Celery grows kinda slow. So I sew some seed every couple of months. It can grow year round here. Doesn't grow much during the winter, but I usually have enough out there to last until it does start to grow again. When it gets hot, it will bolt and go to seed like most leafy crops that prefer cool weather. So I keep the summer batch in partial shade.
Since I don't care for celery stalks, I buy seeds for "cutting celery"- It grows just leaves and doesn't head up. I use the leaves like parsley & cilantro- it keeps coming back after many cuttings. I have most of mine in the cinder blocks that are the edges of my raised beds.-
That's what I'm growing this year, and it smells soooo good! Sometimes I just grab a leaf to munch on.
I do to! I love to munch on it while "do the rounds" outback. I am so glad to hear they make a celery just for using the leaves. People here think I'm kooky! And JoParrott, I am also glad to hear I am not the only one using stacked cinder blocks for raised beds and utilizing the cores. I plant chives, cliantro, strawberries, and my aloe vera in the holes. I live on a slope and I've used the cinder blocks to terrace.
In the winter, I make a lot of soups and stews. For which finely chopped celery staulks ad bulk and flavor.
Pedricks, I would love to see some photos of your setup.
Here's my garden last year-
A closeup of some lettuce in the cinder blocks-
Great use of the blocks for growing in the openings! Does the soil there dry out quite quickly? The lettuce looks beautiful grown that way, I always have mine way too crowded -- for some reason it's the one thing I can't seem to bear to thin out enough!
No unusual problems with soil drying out. I have irrigation sprinklers, but hand water too- the lettuce leaves cover the soil and prevent irrigation from getting in. It is a good way to keep from crowding-each head has it's own space! (these are Romaine) This year I am growing baby gourmet lettuces- MiniStar & Marshall(red romaine).When they get bigger I will send photos.
I will take some photos when things look a bit better. Yours look so nice and clean compared to my more "rustic" setting! I need to finish cleaning old leaves off of my strawberries. And the snails got to the Italian Romano beans coming up in one of the taller walls (stacked three high). They will grow out of it fast though, they are already beginning to climb the supports I have for them. The Aloe vera got a bit beat up this year when I was doing some major changes to accomodate one of my collections. My rows are not anywhere close to being as straight as yours!
One good thing about using them for strawberries, is that the fruit can hang down without touching the ground. I also have aviary netting underneath them all, as the gophers will get into those holes! I used to grow my asparagus in them, until the gophers at them all! Those are now kept in 15 gallon pots!
Most gardeners in England nowadays grow what we call American or green celery, which doesn't require blanching. My Dad used to grow old fashioned white celery. He would take out a trench about a foot deep, dig plenty of compost into the bottom and then put in his plants about a foot apart. As they grew he would gradually fill in the trench so as to keep the stalks covered and white. Rather like earthing up spuds; but in reverse. Few people bother nowadays, as it's so laborious: but many, including me, think it tastes better.
Great information, Pat. I asked about blanching elsewhere and never got such a clear, concise report. I do appreicate it.
Love your uses for the cinderblocks. I grow alternating Begonias and Iceplant in mine. And I DO find that they leach the water out of the soil alot more than wood shoring, but I like the look. This year I didn't plant anything in the cinderblocks...yet. Now that I've seen your photos, I think I may go with Spinach. I don't have any of that planted yet, so it just might work. BTW, I'm using half-blocks, so I'm wondering if tht will be enough space??? May have to go back to flowers of some sort!
Jo - you should be ashamed of yoursellf! That is the neatest, most pristine garden space I have EVER seen. I am totally in awe - and would be WAY too embarrassed to show you shots of my mess! On a VERY good day, my space doesn't hold a candle to yours!
Sequee, my garden is far from pristine! But since it is my top priority(over housework and other drugeries) I do keep it weeded and hopefully insect free. Last year I had a terrible time with earwigs(in 35 years of southern gardening, never had earwigs) Now I know their habits and am on guard. They were worse than slugs ever were! Morw photos soon-(we all love compliments-right?) Happy Mom's Day, all-
Looking forward to more photos!
JoParrott ~ what are you calling "cutting celery" please?
That's what the name of it is. Mine is Afina Cutting Celery:
"Actually a seasoning celery that does not produce an enlarged stalk, Afina is even more aromatic and flavorful than regular celery. From one of our favorite Dutch seed producers, Afina grows about 18” tall, looks like flat-leafed parsley and is packed with big celery flavor. Cutting Celery is a bit finicky to get started but once transplanted into the garden, it is relatively easy. In Holland, Afina’s leaves and hollow stalks are used to flavor soups and stews. It may also be dried by hanging upside down in a well-ventilated area. Tender perennial. (OP.)"
Interesting thank you. I have grown Par-cel or Zwolsche Krul for a few years. It resembles parsley in form and tastes like a strong celery. I like it alot and will look at Afina. I appreciate your information. pod
I looked it up and it looks like the same thing. Smells divine, no?
Sequee, you described it perfectly- I really like it, because I don't care for the crunch of the stalks, but still want the taste. Cooked or raw, it is great! and it comes back after cutting-
It's my first year growing it, but I have a feeling it will become a garden staple!
With apologies to Tamberlin for straying from the Celery question... have you tried drying and using cutting celery? If so, was it as tasty? This was the Par-cel a month ago.
Ummmm - looks yum!
This is Afina at wee baby stage...
Afina looks a little more flat leafed than the par-cel.
The reason I asked about drying it, I tried some last year and thought it was bland.
I'm chopping mine and putting it in a ziplock for soup. I tried freezing real celery and it was nasty looking. I tried drying it and it almost disappeared. My cutting celery looks like Sequee's. It's new for me this year.
I've frozen a lot of celery and I agree on the appearance but use it in soups and stews so appearance is secondary as the taste is still there. Will try freezing Par-cel, perhaps with water in ice cube trays.
I wonder if the whiting technique would enable people in areas where it would freeze in the winter, to keep fresh celery out in their gardens year round? Or in a cold frame? I am a Celiac, so I use piles of veggies in place of pasta or noodles, etc. The mild taste of the cooked stalks adds bulk to a pile of steemed veggies with spagheti sauce :-D
And I can't make chicken vegetable soup without it!
About the only thing I use it for is stuffing, and I like celery with cream cheese and a dipping souce!
On the other hand, I love the flavor, so I think I will get much more use from the leaves. I just wish it would warm up so I could put it outside to GROW!!!
Those little stems are perfect to chop into chicken or tuna salad.
One thing to keep in mind is that blanched white vegetables don't have much if any nutrition compared to green- I think celery since it is a cool crop would grow in a frame quite well, as long as it got sun in the winter.
Cut the homegrown celery stalks ¼" long & throw it in a lettuce salad.